3rd inmate in 1 year slain at Southern California prison

IMPERIAL, Calif. (AP) — Officials say a Southern California inmate has been killed by two other prisoners.

He’s the second inmate in a month and third in a year to be killed at Centinela State Prison in Imperial.

Authorities said Thursday that 38-year-old Matthew J. Herrera was stabbed multiple times Wednesday afternoon and later died.

Guards used batons and pepper spray to detain fellow inmates Carlos Monge and Martin Lara Jr. They found two inmate-made weapons inside the cell.

All three were serving life sentences for murder or attempted murder, Herrera and Monge from Los Angeles County and Lara from Santa Barbara County.

Officials say two inmates separately killed a third inmate at the same prison last month, and one inmate killed another last July at the prison housing more than 3,500 inmates.